Part V Subject Matter, Ch.30 Freshwater Resources

Subject(s):

Freshwater — Rivers — Codification

This chapter traces the evolution of the legal regime for environmental protection of shared watercourses. Codification of international water law began only in 1970, when the International Law Commission (ILC) started to work on a draft convention on the law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses. After close to a quarter of a century, five rapporteurs, and fifteen reports, the ILC completed its work and adopted the draft United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (Watercourses Convention). In parallel, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) was adopted in 1992, and entered into force in 1996. The chapter then analyses and compares the environmental provisions of these two global Conventions. It also considers the influence of the two Conventions on the environmental provisions of subsequent regional and bilateral treaties.